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Down On The Upside

Down On The Upside

Remastered Reissue On 180 Gram Vinyl

After the huge commercial breakthrough of Superunknown-where Soundgarden expanded its attack to include pop hooks, psychedelic riffage, and production values-the foursome decided to work harder at rocking harder.

From the opening chords of Pretty Noose, the group brings out the brawny guitars and slightly leavens them with sweet harmonies. With Rhinosaur, Kim Thayil churns out more guitar-hero riffs for young America to master. Zero Chance turns to the quiet side as Chris Cornell ruminates in a depressive mood: Born without a friend/And bound to die alone. Ty Cobb floors the acceleration with no brakes. Robin Trower's Bridge of Sighs is evoked within Tighten & Tighter, while No Attention ventures toward Rocks-era Aerosmith, an occasional Soundgarden touchstone.

The album's obvious centerpiece, however, is Blow Up the Outside World, with its mix of acoustic and electric guitars; it builds toward a cathartic chorus that rings true of everything Soundgarden could ever be.

Upside Down

Upside Down and Zombie, both released in 1976, were made at the mid-point of an extraordinary three-year purple period during which Fela recorded 24 albums of new material. Upside Down is unusual in that it includes a second lead vocalist, Fela's American friend Sandra Izsadore, who he'd known since touring the US in 1969. Fela went through some important changes during the tour. The most far-reaching of these followed his befriending of Izsadore, a black rights activist who introduced him to the writings of Malcolm X, Angela Davis, Rap Brown, Stokely Carmichael, Huey Newton and other revolutionary thinkers. Fela later credited Izsadore with helping inspire his philosophy of Blackism. Izsadore was one of two women who played key roles in firing Fela's political awareness. The other was his mother, Funmilayo Ransome Kuti. A friend of independent Ghana's founding president, Kwame Nkrumah, she had been an early champion of Nigerian women's rights and a prominent campaigner for Nigerian independence. In 1970, Izsadore stayed with Fela in Nigeria for six months, and returned for a shorter visit in 1976, when she sang on the title track of Upside Down. Izsadore is a competent vocalist, but, her presence aside, the main interest is in the lyrics, in which Fela observes that much in Nigerian civic society is a shambles: "head for down, yansch for up" (head down, arse up). "Go Slow" was one of several songs Fela recorded which critiqued the consequences of over-rapid urbanization - in this case, traffic jams - using them as a metaphor to describe deeper social breakdowns.

Upside Down Mountain

Though only 34, Conor Oberst has been a recording artist for more than two decades, starting with raw, acoustic guitar-based bedroom tracks he cut as a young teenager and initially released on cassette. After his early Omaha-based band Commander Venus broke up, Oberst recast himself as Bright Eyes, an umbrella name for Oberst, producer-keyboardist Mike Mogis and multi-instrumentalist/arranger Nathaniel Wolcott, and a shifting group of collaborators. By the time he released Lifted or The Story is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground on Saddle Creek, the label he helped found with friends in Omaha, Oberst was a word-of-mouth success, with an avid young audience that helped to sell out his tours. The critics soon followed. Rolling Stone called him "a true American original: the ghost of Walt Whitman setting up shop in the wraith-white, rail-thin frame of an acoustic-strumming Nebraska Cure fan." The 2005 simultaneous release of two markedly different Bright Eyes albums-the more singer-songwriter-oriented I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning and the darker, computerized Digital Ash in a Digital Urn-displayed the breadth of his talent. Time Magazine listed I'm Wide Awake among its top 10 albums of the year. Since then, Bright Eyes has continued to evolve, its lineup morphing with each successive tour. While supporting his 2007 Cassadaga album, Oberst took over New York City's Town Hall for a week of sold-out shows, with his large, string-augmented ensemble outfitted spectacularly in white suits. He's also recorded and toured with Mogis, Jim James, and M. Ward as Monsters of Folk as well as with his own Mystic Valley Band. For the first leg of his summer 2014 tour, he's bringing along Wilson's other pals, the Southern Californian quartet Dawes as his support act and backing band.

"I feel lucky that I have been able to do this for as longs as I have," declares Oberst. "I've seen so many talented friends come and go, for a lot of different reasons. Sometimes they stop making music because they can't pay the bills or they lose the passion for it. At this point it is my life. I don't know another way to live. There is something fundamental in myself; I have to be this way. It completes what I am."

Upside Down Mountain features many other friends of Oberst's, including producer Jonathan Wilson, engineer Andy LeMaster, bassist Macey Taylor, multi-instrumentalist Blake Mills, and the Swedish sibling folk-rock vocal duo First Aid Kit. What started as exploratory demos with producer-musician Jonathan Wilson at his Fivestar Studios in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, in a home Wilson rents from Oberst, became the first de facto album sessions. Returning to his native Omaha, Nebraska, Oberst kept rolling with the help of frequent collaborator, engineer, and friend Andy LeMaster at his own ARC Studios. Even more tracking followed in Omaha last November and December. Then Oberst and Wilson moved south to Blackbird Studio in Nashville.

"This is a return to an earlier way I wrote," Oberst says of the songs on Upside Down Mountain. "It's more intimate or personal, if you will. Even if all my songs come from the same place, you make different aesthetic decisions along the way. For me, language is a huge part of why I make music. I'm not the greatest guitar player or piano player-I'm not the greatest singer, either-but I feel if I can come up with melodies I like that are fused with poetry I'm proud of, then that's what I bring to the table. That's why I'm able to do this."

Telephantasm: A Retrospective Limited Super Deluxe Version

Limited Edition

Recently reunited Soundgarden is set to release their first collection of music since 1996 in the form of Telephantasm. This multi-label, career-spanning retrospective includes beloved band hits, deep back catalog cuts and a never-before-heard unreleased track entitled Black Rain, taken from the Badmotorfinger recording sessions.

This Super Deluxe Collector's Edition includes 2 CDs with 5 previously unreleased tracks, limited edition DVD featuring 20 videos, three heavy weight vinyl discs, a collective poster, lithos and much more. The songs were taken from the following Soundgarden albums: Deep Six EP, Screaming Life EP, Fopp EP, Ultramega OK, Louder Than Love, Badmotorfinger, Superunknown and Down on the Upside.

Echo Of Miles: Scattered Tracks Across The Path (Awaiting Repress)

6LP Picture Disc Box Set

Grammy-winning, multi-platinum selling and legendary rock band Soundgarden, have announced the vinyl release of their highly acclaimed rarities collection, Echo Of Miles: Scattered Tracks Across The Path. Hard on the heels of the 20th anniversary deluxe re-release of their chart-topping, five-times-platinum 1994 album, Superunknown early last year, the new vinyl package, first released as a 3-CD collection and as a 14-track single CD last November, will feature the three album thematic collection on six LPs with three separate jackets, each sporting its own unique art and housed in a slipcase wrapped in foil paper designed by Josh Graham.

The collection was curated and hand-selected by guitarist Kim Thayil. Echo Of Miles: Scattered Tracks Across The Path is the first time an official Soundgarden release has included more than 26 years of rarities that have appeared as B-sides, album bonus tracks, EPs, soundtracks, compilations and live recordings, a must for any fan of the band.

LP 1 & 2, dubbed "ORIGINALS," is filled with Soundgarden-written songs, mainly B-sides along with some soundtrack and compilation selections in addition to two unreleased songs on vinyl which go back as far as "Sub Pop Rock City," originally included as part of the 1988 compilation, Sub Pop 200. The two unreleased tracks on this disc are "Kristi," a 1996 outtake from the Down on the Upside sessions which is reportedly drummer Matt Cameron's favorite Soundgarden song, and "Storm," a brand-new track recorded in early 2014.

LP 3 & 4, "COVERS," offers a stellar showcase of songs from bands who Soundgarden love and admire, from classic rockers The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, The Doors, Black Sabbath, Jimi Hendrix and Sly and the Family Stone to punk pioneers The Stooges, the Ramones, Fear and DEVO. Showing their sense of humor, Soundgarden also cover songs by Spinal Tap and Cheech & Chong. The two unreleased tracks include the Beatles' "Everybody's Got Something to Hide " and the Sly Stone track "Thank You ", both of which were originally recorded for a BBC Radio 1 John Peel session in 1989.

LP 5 & 6, "ODDITIES," offers a wide-ranging combination of instrumentals, remixes and demos. The unreleased tracks on vinyl include "Twin Tower," penned by Matt Cameron, which was originally recorded at Seattle's London Bridge studio in December 1988 during the sessions for Louder Than Love. "Night Surf" is an instrumental performed by bassist Ben Shepherd which the band used to open their 1994 tour in conjunction with an introductory film which screened before they took the stage. Steve Fisk's new remix of "The Telephantasm (Resurrection Remix)," a song originally released for 2011 Record Store Day, has also never been available on vinyl before.

Ultramega OK

This remixed and expanded reissue of Soundgarden's Ultramega OK is a long-planned "correction" of the legendary band's Grammy®-nominated debut full-length. The album was originally recorded and released in 1988 on SST Records. While the band enjoyed working with the original producer, Drew Canulette, they soon realized they weren't quite happy with the final mix. Thus, shortly after the album's release, the band decided to remix the album for subsequent pressings. However, success intervened: the band rapidly scored a deal with A&M and began work on their major-label debut, Louder Than Love, and the Ultramega OK remix project fell by the wayside as Soundgarden climbed their way to (ultra)mega-stardom.

In 2016, after worldwide success, a breakup, a reunion, and many albums and tours, the band finally acquired the original multi-track tapes to Ultramega OK and carved out time to dig into the remix. They handed the tapes over to longtime friend and engineer Jack Endino (Nirvana, Mudhoney, Screaming Trees, Skin Yard), who worked with the band to create a fresh mix of the album that, for the band, ties up this persistent loose end and remedies the sound of their debut album.

While they were at it, the band dug out six early versions of tracks that wound up on Ultramega OK. The songs were recorded in 1987 on 8-track tape by Jack Endino and Chris Hanzsek at Reciprocal Recording in Seattle, and mixed by Jack Endino in 2016. These versions feature the band in raw, powerful form -sonically closer to the band's Endino-recorded debut EP Screaming Life - and provide a fascinating window into the development of songs that eventually became staples of the band's set. The six songs comprise what the band refers to as Ultramega EP, and they are included in this reissue.

Hailed as grunge innovators, Soundgarden redefined rock music for a generation. In the '80s, the band - singer/guitarist Chris Cornell, guitarist Kim Thayil, bassist Hiro Yamamoto, and drummer Matt Cameron - combined a punk ethos, brutal metal soundscapes, and Cornell's ravenous roar to capture the attention of the masses. Jagged and ferocious, their music was deeply at odds with the synth-pop and hair metal which dominated the 80's airwaves. Early indie releases, including seminal Screaming Life and Ultramega OK, quickly led to a dedicated indie following as the band toured on both sides of the Atlantic. Subsequent albums, including Badmotorfinger, Superunknown, and Down on the Upside, achieved multi-platinum sales and launched the band to international fame.

Topiary

Recorded At Tom Tom Club/Talking Heads' Clubhouse Studio On All Analogue Gear

Ghostly International presents Xeno & Oaklander's new full-length album Topiary.In their fifth album to date, the Brooklyn based girl / boy electronic duo exploresthemes of arcana and electricity.

The title 'Topiary' refers to a highly ornamental hand sculpted garden such asLevins Hall in Cumbria UK or the stately grounds of Versailles. Pruned andfashioned into forms, shrubs and trees are turned into semblances of abstract andnatural shapes - nature imitating nature, much to the delight of dreamers andromantics. The band, Sean McBride and Liz Wendelbo, views the album as ajourney through the manifold hallways of electro magnetic architecture andenchanted landscapes.

The sound of Topiary is rich and deep; like a 60s French Pop album shot through aprism of late renaissance chamber music. Liz Wendelbo's voice seems haunted byghosts of YÉYÉ girls, Françoise Hardy's whispers set against a glorious backdropof blaring synthetic horns and organs.

Known for their signature analog synth sound, Xeno & Oaklander have beenquoted as referring to their synths as elemental: fire is what powers energy,voltage and electricity. Electro magnetism is electric energy, like lightning in thesky: here it is controlled by switches and buttons, shaped by filters andenvelopes, and travels through patch cables and modules to create syntheticcreations of classical instruments: pianos, brass, guitars, percussions. The result isorchestral and textured.

A room - a sound studio is often referred to as 'the room': it has a sound, a history,and ghosts in its machines. Xeno & Oaklander's new album was recorded at theTom Tom Club / Talking Heads' Clubhouse Studio deep in the woods of NewEngland. Known for their analog synthesizer sound, Xeno & Oaklander plugged intheir entire arsenal of synths into the Clubhouse array of analog outboard gear.They used their signature style of recording: the album was recorded as a livesession, but this time in a bracketed amount of time and in one place. Everythingwas arranged, recorded and mixed in a month at the Clubhouse. Liz and Seanwere intent on creating a sense of dimensionality with this recording by exploringthe idea of 3D in sound: left, right, back and front as well as up and down. Roomtone is present in the recordings themselves, so that 'the room' is present in thesongs, and so that there is a trace of the space in the sound itself: making this aunique recording. The vinyl and Cd are mixed seamlessly like a constant pulse ofelectricity.

Metaphysics, the study of being, time and space is a long time fascination forXeno & Oaklander and the inspiration for part of their band name. Xeno was apre-Socratic philosopher whose view on the world tipped it upside down andinside out: he is known for his paradoxes; in short what you see is not what youget, life is a chimera, an illusion, a matter of perception. It is this inversion thatcaptures the imagination of the band. Day vs. night, hot vs. cold, sunshine vs.moonlight, glitter vs. silver, chemistry vs. alchemy, stasis vs. movement; these arethemes that permeate their lyrics and sounds.

The artwork by Liz Wendelbo echoes the electro magnetic theme with what lookslike a starry night sky or skyscraper at night. It is a blown up X-Ray of proteinphotographed through an electron microscope - what is called X-Ray crystallography.In Liz's words what is deep inside of us is a reflection of what is above us: andelectricity runs through it all.

Topiary (Colored Vinyl)

Ghostly International presents Xeno & Oaklander's new full-length album Topiary.In their fifth album to date, the Brooklyn based girl / boy electronic duo exploresthemes of arcana and electricity.

The title 'Topiary' refers to a highly ornamental hand sculpted garden such asLevins Hall in Cumbria UK or the stately grounds of Versailles. Pruned andfashioned into forms, shrubs and trees are turned into semblances of abstract andnatural shapes - nature imitating nature, much to the delight of dreamers andromantics. The band, Sean McBride and Liz Wendelbo, views the album as ajourney through the manifold hallways of electro magnetic architecture andenchanted landscapes.

The sound of Topiary is rich and deep; like a 60s French Pop album shot through aprism of late renaissance chamber music. Liz Wendelbo's voice seems haunted byghosts of YÉYÉ girls, Françoise Hardy's whispers set against a glorious backdropof blaring synthetic horns and organs.

Known for their signature analog synth sound, Xeno & Oaklander have beenquoted as referring to their synths as elemental: fire is what powers energy,voltage and electricity. Electro magnetism is electric energy, like lightning in thesky: here it is controlled by switches and buttons, shaped by filters andenvelopes, and travels through patch cables and modules to create syntheticcreations of classical instruments: pianos, brass, guitars, percussions. The result isorchestral and textured.

A room - a sound studio is often referred to as 'the room': it has a sound, a history,and ghosts in its machines. Xeno & Oaklander's new album was recorded at theTom Tom Club / Talking Heads' Clubhouse Studio deep in the woods of NewEngland. Known for their analog synthesizer sound, Xeno & Oaklander plugged intheir entire arsenal of synths into the Clubhouse array of analog outboard gear.They used their signature style of recording: the album was recorded as a livesession, but this time in a bracketed amount of time and in one place. Everythingwas arranged, recorded and mixed in a month at the Clubhouse. Liz and Seanwere intent on creating a sense of dimensionality with this recording by exploringthe idea of 3D in sound: left, right, back and front as well as up and down. Roomtone is present in the recordings themselves, so that 'the room' is present in thesongs, and so that there is a trace of the space in the sound itself: making this aunique recording. The vinyl and Cd are mixed seamlessly like a constant pulse ofelectricity.

Metaphysics, the study of being, time and space is a long time fascination forXeno & Oaklander and the inspiration for part of their band name. Xeno was apre-Socratic philosopher whose view on the world tipped it upside down andinside out: he is known for his paradoxes; in short what you see is not what youget, life is a chimera, an illusion, a matter of perception. It is this inversion thatcaptures the imagination of the band. Day vs. night, hot vs. cold, sunshine vs.moonlight, glitter vs. silver, chemistry vs. alchemy, stasis vs. movement; these arethemes that permeate their lyrics and sounds.

The artwork by Liz Wendelbo echoes the electro magnetic theme with what lookslike a starry night sky or skyscraper at night. It is a blown up X-Ray of proteinphotographed through an electron microscope - what is called X-Ray crystallography.In Liz's words what is deep inside of us is a reflection of what is above us: andelectricity runs through it all.

Visuals

Mew frontman Jonas Bjerre has worked on the projections for the band's live shows since their early days. Usually, the Danish trio finish an album and Bjerre gets to work on the visuals. For their seventh record, though, the singer decided to turn things upside down, working on the visuals first and seeing if they informed the music. The resultant record feels like a culmination for one of rock's most ambitious and inventive groups: Visuals is where Bjerre and his bandmates, bassist Johan Wohlert and drummer Silas Utke Graae Jørgensen, join the dots of a career that has spanned over two decades. "We do everything on this album ourselves," says Bjerre. "We produced it ourselves, I did the artwork, I'm doing the visuals. Visuals felt like a fitting title. I like the idea that each song has a visual aspect to it somehow."

Mew have a tradition of, as Bjerre puts it, hiding away in a cave for three or four years between albums. The tour that accompanied 2015's +- album found the band reaching a creative peak that they felt was too exhilarating to be dampened by a period of extended cave-dwelling. They arrived home with demos that had been written on the road and the spark was lit. They wanted to break the cycle and make an album quickly. "We just felt like, "if we do it the normal way, it's gonna be another three or four years before we get to do it again'," says Bjerre. "If you keep doing it like that, ultimately you make a handful of albums and then you're ready for retirement." The trio wanted to make an album spontaneously, keeping the energy they'd generated on the road going.

They set to work in Copenhagen and started knocking the demos they'd written on tourbuses and in hotel rooms into shape. At the same time, new songs were emerging in reaction to what was going on around them. Mew aren't a political band but couldn't help but be affected by rolling news and the death of an icon. "It was pretty dark last year, so some of the darkness in the lyrics comes from that. You definitely get the feeling that things don't last forever when someone like David Bowie dies." Visuals was completed in just under a year - what Bjerre describes as an "incredible" feat for a band used to periods of prolonged tinkering. "Spending less time on it, you can still maintain the feeling you had when you first wrote it," says Bjerre.

Bjerre doesn't know where Mew songs come from. He finds it hard to pin down his lyrics, his melodies, himself. It's what makes his band so special, that thrill that songs could go anywhere, that understated verses could suddenly rocket skyward, anthemic choruses could implode into beautiful soundscapes or sophisticated grooves could be crushed like a tincan. "I don't consciously know why the songs come out the way they do," says Bjerre. "It's a lot of trial and error for us. Even though a song is on an album, it keeps growing because we get to go out and perform it for an audience. I like the thought it can keep growing. It's never really finished."

Visuals is Mew at their most compact, their chemistry at its most potent. With only one song over five minutes, it's their most concise album. Bjerre says there was no need for a grand, overarching concept. Each song on Visuals represents its own little chapter and story: nothing needed to be overly long. "Each album is like a collection of thoughts and ideas that fit the time we're in," he says. "They're like little diary entries, except they're a little bit more veiled perhaps. To me, albums are memories of times in my life."

The song that led the way was the slow-building euphoria of Nothingness And No Regrets. Bjerre says that Mew lyrics often have two or three different meanings, and the opener is a reflection on life and death at the same time as "imagining this team of people trying to accomplish something and ultimately failing." The expansive 80s-style pop of The Wake Of Your Life is about legacy and what's left after you've gone. "These are things you think about more and more the older you get." It started out as a synth-pop track with lots of programming before taking on a different shape when the band added guitars over the top. "We try to change the method of how we reach the destination all the time cos if you do things the same way all the time, the results will often be very similar," says Bjerre.

The discordant stomp of Candy Pieces All Smeared Out came about after Bjerre went back over some demos he'd made as a youngster on an Omega 500. "Some of them were interesting sonically so I kept some of the programming. We built the song on top of this really weird 8-bit computer track." The song sums up the emotional to and fro and ca

ptivating contrariness at the heart of Visuals: it's an album that's both nostalgic and contemporary, that looks back whilst marching forward.

The blissful glide of In A Better Place is a prime example of the impulsive environment that the songs were written in, a drumbeat by Jorgensen inspiring Bjerre to write a song immediately, whilst the atmospheric rock of Ay Ay Ay was based around a choir part that Bjerre had come up with a few years ago. All of the vocal parts were recorded in the booth that Bjerre had constructed in his apartment in Copenhagen. "I like waking up in the middle of the night and feeling inspired by something and being able to go in my booth and just sing it," he says.

Bjerre says that the celebratory groove of Learn Our Crystals "is one of our weirdest songs." Poppy and fantastical, it had a familiar feeling to the singer as soon as he wrote it. The soulful sway of Shoulders has an R'n'B feel to it, whilst Bjerre had earmarked the mesmerising intricacy Carry Me To Safety as the album's closer as soon as it'd been written. "I just like how it twists and turns," he says. "It's a reflection on life and being in a band, what it means to be in a band, dedicating so many years of your life to this thing."

Twenty years into their career, Mew have the irrepressible ebullience of a band on their debut album. Visuals feels like the beginning of a new chapter. "Mew is what I always come back to, it's a companion to my life. It's always been there, as long as I can remember. It's a big part of the footprint that we'll leave behind," says Bjerre. Mew march on: this is the sound of a band seizing the moment.

Sugar

Twenty years after the release of G. Love and Special Sauce's debut album, the original lineup of the revered hip-hop blues trio is back together for a new album, Sugar, and an extensive U.S. tour.

I had a good idea for a riff off an old hip hop sample which I changed up, flipped upside down and played with a slide guitar, G. Love says about the first single Nothing Quite Like Home. We cut the song live with the trio at Brushfire in L.A and added the 'B' section and drum break. I had been talking to Dan Reynolds from Imagine Dragons earlier in the summer about working on something and I sent him the instrumental we cut. He penned the lyrics and sent back a real tight demo over the instrumental. Later I added my vocals and got a helping hand from two of my favorite singers -- Ben Harper, who just brought the chorus to another level, and Marc Broussard, who added some nice backgrounds.

SUGAR reunites G. Love, upright bassist James Jimi Jazz Prescott and drummer Jeffrey The Houseman Clemens for the first time in eight years. Tracked largely at Brushfire Records' Solar Powered Plastic Plant studio in L.A, the disc also features Los Lobos guitarist David Hidalgo, current Oscar nominee Merry Clayton - best known for her duet with Mick Jagger on the Rolling Stones' Gimme Shelter - and others.

Martinis & Bikinis

White Colored Vinyl!

On vinyl for the first time ever!

Sam's 1994 masterpiece Martinis & Bikinis is reissued on vinyl (for the first time ever) by Omnivore Recordings! Produced by T Bone Burnett and released in 1994, this is a true classic. Sam chose to add four bonus tracks, among them a brand new recording of "Strawberry Road" that was cut specifically for this release.

With Martinis & Bikinis, Sam Phillips has revitalized the Beatlesque category with some substantial songwriting and a woman's voice, which turns the whole sound upside down. The Beatles hardly exhausted the possibilities of their late-'60s sound, and Phillips has the hooks and aphorisms to give that sound a second lease on life. Phillips has rewritten two old Beatles songs into Strawberry Road and Same Rain; she has even recorded a John Lennon composition, Gimme Some Truth. Phillips's husband, T-Bone Burnett, cowrote two of the songs and produced all 13, and he adds the Lennonesque touches of guitars recorded backward and sweet harmonized vocals pitted against distorted guitars. But none of this would matter if the songs weren't so good.

Spitballin'

The DAVE STEWART-produced SPITBALLIN' would never have happened if not for one Twitter message that turned STEWART's world upside down. STEWART has seen and done it all, but none of it prepared him for what he would hear from THOMAS LINDSEY. "I read it and clicked on the link," STEWART recalls. "And there he was, singing something on a YouTube video. I don't remember what it was but there was no music. He was singing a cappella. And I went, 'Holy crap!'" STEWART got in touch with his young admirer and invited him to send examples of his original material.

"It was really amazing stuff. So I asked if he wanted to come out to Los Angeles and sing three songs unaccompanied before my show at the Troubadour," STEWART says. Following their live debut, STEWART and LINDSEY began writing together by sending audio files back and forth between L.A. and Louisiana. Working long distance seemed to bring them closer as they built a catalog of songs.

Their common ground proved as lush as Delta marshland. A down-and-dirty delta guitar riff. A thumping drum beat. And a stunning vocal intro, urgent, haunted, earthy and spiritual, with blues-drenched filigrees, a vibrato that shocks like an electric current, a range that defies not just convention but gravity itself. Backed by STEWART's distorted voodoo guitar licks, LINDSEY opens "Leave This Town" in free tempo and then a swampy groove kicks in--just guitar and drums, raw and wild. "Two People" unfolds over a stomping beat that leads to a long vamp over which Lindsey improvises with hair-raising intensity and finesse. Churchy echoes permeate "When Dogs Run," with a mournful organ providing the backdrop to STEWART's Pop Staples-style guitar tremolo. "Alcohol" boils down to organ and LINDSEY's voice recounting a riveting elegy for someone who was "lost to alcohol."

Some of the stories behind the lyrics on these songs are sad, but true and some more fanciful. To write "Crocodile," for instance, LINDSEY admits "I tried to write a song that would seem like something from a shoe commercial! I had this image of a woman in bad-ass crocodile boots, walking down the street. That's how that song formed."

1. Leave This Town2. Another Lie3. Friend Zone4. Lonely5. When Dogs Run Away6. Look at Those Flames7. Two People8. Run From You9. Confidence10. Crocodile11. Alcohol12. Dear God

I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!

Sourced from the Original Masters

I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama! was the rst solo studio album Joplin recorded after leaving Big Brother and the Holding Company. The LP was released on September 11, 1969 and reached gold record status within two months of its release.

When Janis Joplin died in October 1970 at the early age of 27, thus involuntarily confirming the beatnik adage live fast, love hard, die young, it was only a matter of time before she was crowned the "Queen of Rock". Of greater importance than this posthumous entry into rock 'n' roll's hall of fame is the recognition during her lifetime of her explosive vocal style, which - so Vogue - turned the whole history of singing upside down.

Janis Joplin's discography is just as short and changeable as her life. After two LP releases with the standard 'cast' of rock musicians in the band Big Brother And The Holding Company, with whose excellent musical support she obtained her first recording contract with Columbia Records in 1968, the company provided her with a group augmented with organ and winds. Their intention was to broaden her vocal expression with blues and funk elements, which, however, her most loyal fans regarded as betrayal of the ideals of rock music. Rock fans in the Old World were less critical, especially since Joplin and her Kozmic Blues Band went on a two-month tour of Europe. For those Woodstock fans whose ears are still ringing with the band's full, meaty wind sound and Janis's bluesy soul singing, this album is an absolute must.

1. Try (Just a Little Bit Harder)2. Maybe3. One Good Man4. As Good As You've Been to This World5. To Love Somebody6. Kozmic Blues7. Little Girl Blue8. Work Me Lord

Lady In Gold (Bone Vinyl)

Limited Edition Of 500 Copies Pressed On Bone Colored Vinyl

Very few modern bands are lucky enough to have such a unique, individual and inimitable style as well as blessed with such an incredible voice at the forefront, so it's very rare that a group representing traditional blues-rock can come along with all these characteristics and whip up such excitement in 2016.

BLUES PILLS contain all these elements to create extraordinary music that sounds original and new but respects those long-held rules of blues and rock and roll tradition. Although, it's the individual characteristics of the band that makes this music electrifying; the steady bass of Zack Anderson, thumping rhythm of AndrÉ Kvarnström, technical and yet improvisational guitar of Dorian Sorriaux and the sensational soaring vocals of frontwoman Elin Larsson that set this band apart.

The psychedelic sounds of the band may hail back to the prosperity of the 1960's and 1970's and it's true their distinctive sound may include a few ingredients of the past; a pinch of late 60's Americana, a sprinkling of blues, a heavy serving of rock 'n' roll, a big squeeze of soul but it's all shaken up into a brand-new cocktail of sound, and served into this heavenly new blend we call BLUES PILLS.

That's why it seems to be a sign of destiny that the stars aligned for this exceptional group to be born in 2011, only one year later the striking, soulful and organic sound of first single 'Black Smoke' was fascinating countless listeners - followed up by the EP "Bliss". When in 2014 the self-titled album was released, the whole genre was turned upside down and BLUES PILLS were charting across Europe and continually selling out larger venues. Now the fans are calling on BLUES PILLS to present their second album "Lady In Gold".

"'Lady Gold' is a character symbolizing death", explains singer Elin Larsson of the intriguing album title. "We wanted to get away from the typical stereotype of the Grim Reaper."

The mystical and dark references of the album title are echoed throughout a lot of the album - there's the ode to the female "Keeper Of The Soul" on spiritual sounding title track 'Lady In Gold' and talks of failed salvation from a deceitful messiah in the soul anthem 'Little Boy Preacher'. There's emotive blues ballads in 'I've Felt A Change' and 'Burned Out' and empowering post-heartbreak tales in 'Won't Go Back' and 'Rejection'.

Similarly to the self-titled debut "Lady In Gold" was produced in Sweden by producer Don Alsterberg and it captures everything that's made them one of the most talked about rock bands of the past few years.

Diana: The Original Chic Mix

Pressed On Pink Vinyl

Among the rarest of Motown's rare grooves and making its vinyl debut: the original mix of Ross's smash 1980 album that featured 'Upside Down' and 'I'm Coming Out.' CHIC's Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers produced the album and delivered this mix only to see it rejected and remixed by Motown's in-house team. The original CHIC mix was a Motown myth until its inclusion in the Diana: deluxe edition in 2003. It's now where it belongs, on vinyl and pink vinyl, to boot.

I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama! (Speakers Corner)

When Janis Joplin died in October 1970 at the early age of 27, thus involuntarily confirming the beatnik adage live fast, love hard, die young, it was only a matter of time before she was crowned the "Queen of Rock". Of greater importance than this posthumous entry into rock 'n' roll's hall of fame is the recognition during her lifetime of her explosive vocal style, which - so Vogue - turned the whole history of singing upside down.

Janis Joplin's discography is just as short and changeable as her life. After two LP releases with the standard 'cast' of rock musicians in the band Big Brother And The Holding Company, with whose excellent musical support she obtained her first recording contract with Columbia Records in 1968, the company provided her with a group augmented with organ and winds. Their intention was to broaden her vocal expression with blues and funk elements, which, however, her most loyal fans regarded as betrayal of the ideals of rock music. Rock fans in the Old World were less critical, especially since Joplin and her Kozmic Blues Band went on a two-month tour of Europe. For those Woodstock fans whose ears are still ringing with the band's full, meaty wind sound and Janis's bluesy soul singing, this album is an absolute must.

Musicians:

Janis Joplin (vocal)

Cornelius Snooky Flowers, Terry Clements (saxophone)

Luis Gasca (trumpet)

Richard Kermode, Gabriel Mekler (organ)

Sam Andrew (guitar)

Brad Campbell (bass)

Maury Baker, Lonnie Castille (drums)

Recording: June - August 1969 by Sy Mitchell, Jerry Hochman, and Alex Kazanegras

Production: Gabriel Mekler

About Speakers Corner

At the beginning of the 90s, in the early days of audiophile vinyl re-releases, the situation was fairly straightforward. Companies such as DCC, Mobile Fidelity, Classic Records and, of course, Speakers Corner all maintained a mutual, unwritten ethical code: we would only use analogue tapes to manufacture records.

During the course of the present vinyl hype, many others have jumped on the bandwagon in the hope of securing a corner of the market. Very often they are not so ethical and use every imaginable source to master from: CDs, LPs, digital files, MP3s - or employed existant tools from the 80s and 90s for manufacturing.

A digital delay is gladly used when cutting a lacquer disc because tape machines with an analogue delay have become quite rare and are therefore expensive. When cutting the lacquer, the audio signal is delayed by one LP revolution against the signal, which controls the cutter head, and for this a digital delay is very often employed. Of course, the resultant sound signal is completely digital and thus only as good as this delay.

We should like to emphasise that Speakers Corner Records on principle only uses the original master tape as the basis for the entirely analogue cutting of lacquer discs. In addition, the pressing tool is newly manufactured as a matter of principle. We have one digital recording in our catalogue (Alan Parsons / Eye In The Sky"), but even in this particular case we used the analogue tapes for cutting.

We only employ existing tools for manufacturing if an improved result is not forthcoming, e.g. the title Elvis Is Back, which was mastered by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray, or several titles from our Philips Classics series, which in any case Willem Makkee cut from the original masters at the Emil Berliner Studios in the 90s. It goes without saying that we only used the mother and that new tools were made for our production.

To put it in a nutshell: we can ensure you that our releases are free from any kind of digital effects - excluding the exception above - and that the lacquer discs are newly cut.

This title is not eligible for discount.

1. Try (Just a Little Bit Harder) 2. Maybe 3. One Good Man 4. As Good As You've Been to This World 5. To Love Somebody 6. Kozmic Blues 7. Little Girl Blue 8. Work Me Lord

The Violent Sleep Of Reason

Pressed On Grey / Black Splatter

Limited To 1000 Copies

The Violent Sleep of Reason, the band's eighth full-length studio album, finds MESHUGGAH building upon their legacy for fearless metal sculpting within the context of extreme metal, but also recapturing some of the magic and excitement specifically within the aspect of performance, finding flow and groove that would be a challenge for any lesser band to locate, given such technical geometric madness at mischievous hand.

"There's a distinct methodology", says drummer, writer and spokesman for the band Tomas Haake, that was put into motion to help the band achieve the level of "intensity" the attentive fan will feel as he/she makes their way through The Violent Sleep of Reason.

For this one, it's all live takes, with either 3 or 4 of the band members recording their respective instruments simultaneously - which is a way of recording they haven't used in many years. And that definitely goes against the stream of what you see in most technical metal nowadays, where editing, drum programming, the use of "beat detectives" etc. is a way more common approach to recording. So on this one, MESHUGGAH went back towards a more old-school approach, properly rehearsing the songs as a whole band before going into studio to record them. Jens was in one room, guitarists were in one room, bass player Dick was sitting right next to the drum set with an amplifier/cab in the next room. So in that sense this is more "old school"; the methodology is in that sense more like what bands were doing in the '80s and 90s. "And that vibrancy comes out", says Haake; "it's a very audible difference, sloppier sounding if you will, but at the same time it brings a different energy than the last few albums - this is "less perfect", but in that sense, also more alive."

The personal challenge taken on by the band produced fortunate byproducts as well, or, rather, it inspired them to "de-machine" other aspects of the technical MESHUGGAH juggernaut.

"Yes, for this one we also changed our approach toward the guitar recording/sounds," explains Haake, who nonetheless confirms that the band is still using eight-string axes, and for the most part, tuning down half a step to achieve that torrid MESHUGGAH guitar grunt. "The last few albums have been mostly digital, guitar sounds-wise, using all digital guitar gear as opposed to analog tube amps and regular cabs. The upside of using all digital like we did previous, is you can re-amp it afterwards, as it's basically a clean signal so you can pick, choose, and tweak things at a later point. But with this album, it was six speakers, all separately miked in one (super-loud) room, each cabinet with a different head -Marshall, Orange, Mesa Boogie etc-and then mixing it up a little bit depending on the song. If there was a song that was a little slower and sludgier, we might add more of the Orange amp to get a tad more of that stoner sound. And if it's a bit more metal, we'd maybe use the Marshall head or the Mesa head a little more in the mix. So we did have the opportunity, to mix and match for each song so the guitar sound is not exactly the same for every song. And that's a difference from Koloss and obZen, for example, where pretty much every song had the same drum and guitar sound."

But the end result is still a relentless onslaught of MESHUGGAH -patented ideas, save for one gorgeous and atmospheric respite, at the close of "Stifled."

Framing the pacing and contours of record, Tomas says, "None of the songs stick out quite like, for example, the way "Bleed" did on obZen. To me, it doesn't really have hits-it just has really cool songs! Not that we ever really had "hits" though (laughs). They're just maybe a little "wilder" sounding on this album, much due also to the live recording approach. Dick and I wrote about half of the material, and the rest was either me and Mårten working together or Mårten writing on his own. We were kind of going for something nuts as is the case with all our writing/recording albums - We wanted to hear something that we hadn't heard ourselves do before." Fredrik was not part of the songwriting for this one, as he's been hard at work on his next solo album, but as always he was still very involved with every aspect of the recording, from recording rhythm guitars, guitar solos etc . "And that's also a completely new thing," continues Tomas. "Dick was never involved in the songwriting prior to this album, whereas Fredrik always was. And that, of course, creates a difference in the way the album as a whole came out."

At the lyrical end, highlights include the title track, which, set to a massively heavy arch-djent rhythm, speaks of "the violent outcome of not dealing with what is going on, the violent implications of being asleep. "The title is actually inspired by a Goya painting called 'The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters.'"

A second highlight is strident opener and longest song on the album, "Clockworks," which is strafed by a typically super-human drum performance from Haake. "That's more about looking to yourself and who you are and things you want to change about yourself. And then in the context of how your mind works, as a clockwork. It's the idea of taking out all the little pins, wheels, and springs and kind of rebuilding it to make you function in a different fashion. So lyrics for that song is a look in on self, at things that you wish that you could change about yourself."

Listen to tracks like the vertigo-inducing "Nostrum" and the slower if equally circular and note-dense "By the Ton," and it's easy to understand why it's been four years since a MESHUGGAH album. But mind-numbing complexity of the material is not the only reason, explains Haake.

"No, well, I would say first of all, it takes us a lot of time to write. And we're very bad at focusing; we're very bad at multitasking. I don't think we ever wrote one single riff on a tour bus or in a hotel room. So if you have a touring cycle of two, two-and-a-half, three years, there's not going to be anything written in that time period. And that's just how we all function. We need to have a break, like, okay, time out now-nothing else for a year. We need to write for one year. But you also want to tour as much as possible for an album. Koloss, for example, we toured for like two-and-a-half years. And then you write. And when we do finally write, we scrutinize those songs, riffs, structures over and over and over, and change things as we go. So in a lot of the songs, maybe only one riff was actually there originally. So writing for us does take a long time, no doubt."

As a result, the band's erudite and intelligent fan base "get something that they don't really hear in any other bands". On the first album you still hear a lot of Metallica and Anthrax and Bay Area kind of thrash metal influence. "We knew that we sounded a bit like that, but we were aiming for something we hadn't heard in any other band. And that's still the main fuel. We're not trying to write your average metal song. We're not trying to write catchy songs. We're not trying to write hit songs (laughs). We're just trying to write something that is cool, that we haven't heard before, and hopefully our fans haven't heard before. And that also gets harder and harder though, because by now, there are so many awesome musicians and bands and so much great music out there. But it would seem like the followers that we do have, the people that have kept buying our albums and stayed with us for a lot of years, are not necessarily the typical metal fans. The crowd we have is diverse. We have a lot of geeks and nerds and weirdos, and they are beautiful ones, you know? We have a lot of people with talent, and a lot of people that are also interested in music as art, and not just an event."

But it's not lost on Tomas that MESHUGGAH is making daunting progressive music, music where melody is subservient to jackhammer rhythm, as evidenced by the way that even his lead singer, Jens Kidman, is situated within the maelstrom that is MESHUGGAH

"He's the perfect tool for the job. Just like most people, we all, of course, like music where there's "proper singing", and we all love a great singer. Personally, I think the voice is the most empathic instrument. You hear someone sing and you're like, oh my God, that's the coolest instrument in the world. But at the same time, what we're trying to do is not that. Just like the guitars and me as a drummer, Jens also is a rhythmic tool, one that adds aggression, as well as words to back up that aggression if you will."

So would Tomas then acquiesce to the idea of MESHUGGAH as metal's reigning enemies of melody?

"In a sense, yeah. I mean, there is definitely melody and a lot of melodic thought put into tonalities, harmonies between bass and guitars and things like that, but at the same time, we're not often going for anything pretty. Sometimes there's a little bit, where we go, 'Awww, that's beautiful," but then we usually immediately mess it up again. You give it a little bit of something "nice" sometimes, but basically we're not going for niceness (laughs)."

Folk Songs & Instrumentals With Guitar

Folk Songs And Instrumentals With Guitar is the very first album from the late, legendary folk-blues guitarist and singer Elizabeth Cotton. Featuring her oft-covered classic tune, the titular "Freight Train" and her idiosyncratic, self-taught upside-down left-handed guitar playing style, this is an absolutely essential collection from an American folk legend lovingly reissued here on vinyl in an exact replica of the original paste-on Folkways jacket with booklet.

The live reunion of Bob Dylan and The Band during 1973-74 yielded one of the decade's most celebrated, dynamic, and astonishing tours. Captured on Before the Flood, the results portray the two artists' shared chemistry as well as Dylan's instinctive ability to challenge audiences, his group, and himself via inventive rearrangements of classics that simultaneously ward off nostalgia and renew with meaning. Said by noted critic Robert Christgau to be at its best, [the] craziest and strongest rock and roll ever recorded, Before the Flood crackles with intensity, relevance, and unhinged performances.

Mastered on Mobile Fidelity's world-renowned mastering system and pressed at RTI, this restored analog version cracks wide open the ceiling previously obscuring many of the tonal details, revealing microdynamics, and vocal nuances on the recording. Distinguished with an immediately recognizable sound, The Band comes across in three-dimensional form, while Dylan takes center stage, feet from your listening chair. The two artists play like two souls in communion, a facet displayed here courtesy of the increased airiness, enhanced soundstage depth, and lifelike imaging.

There's so much new information here, this already-iconic album only gains in stature. As experienced on Mobile Fidelity, Before the Flood unquestionably takes its place as one of the ten-best concert releases ever made. Notes are rounded, Garth Hudson's organ claims a tube-like glow, Levon Helm's drumming possesses its own space, voices are perceptible all the way down the singers' throats, and Dylan's awe-inspiring phrasing resonates with palpable urgency. Audiophiles and Dylan fans, prepare to be astonished.

Arriving at a crucial time for both Dylan and The Band, Before the Flood is the furthest thing possible from a nostalgia trip. It's where Dylan begins his now-trademark feat of turning songs upside-down, taking risks, surprising and challenging expectations, leaving audiences riveted to the edge of their seats in anticipation of what might come next. He sings with unabated passion, the moods spanning bitterness to jubilation, his willingness to play fast and loose with the music giving way to compelling shifts, under-the-surface textures, complementary intricacies, and a sense of newness and discovery on par with that of an adventurer embracing total freedom.

Before the Flood buries any notion of limits, safeguards, or borders. It is an open map, each song a route begging for exploration without need or concern for exactness or an appointed leader. Collaborative in every sense, it's a portrait of six inimitable musicians feeding off one another, trusting in their past history as they hurdle towards uncharted territory, using soulfulness as a compass and opportunity as their vehicle.

Wholly different than the live episodes heard on Bob Dylan Live 1966, The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert, Before the Flood is equally seminal and, from the perspective of witnessing an artist dare not only his audience but himself to break through to a new plane, even better. Utterly astounding.

This title is not eligible for discount.

1. Most Likely You'll Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)2. Lay Lady Lay3. Rainy Day Women #12 & #354. Knockin' on Heaven's Door5. It Ain't Me Babe6. Ballad of a Thin Man7. Up on Cripple Creek8. I Shall Be Released9. Endless Highway10. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down11. Stage Fright12. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right13. Just Like a Woman14. It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)15. The Shape I'm In16. When You Awake17. The Weight18. All Along the Watchtower19. Highway 61 Revisited20. Like a Rolling Stone21. Blowin' in the Wind

Return Of Saturn

Just like the heavenly occasion which inspires its name, Return of Saturn, the latest album from Southern California rock band No Doubt, is best experienced with both feet firmly on the ground, and with eyes and ears held wide open.

The album's title refers to the notion that in the first 29 years of someone's life (the same time it takes the planet Saturn to orbit the Sun), a person is only beginning to understand himself or herself, which, singer and songwriter Gwen Stefani explains, helped her to discern her own place in life as she turned 30 years old. I wrote the song 'Artificial Sweetener', Gwen says, which has the line, 'the Return of Saturn, assessing my life, second guessing.' From the time you're born till the time Saturn returns to that point is a time of reassessment and a growing period, where you second-guess everything, and you clear out things that are going to be in the way of moving on in your life. I really did feel like I was going through a transitional phase in my life as I made this album. I think the name Return of Saturn is relevant in the sense that it shows how we've grown as a band, and as songwriters.

The culmination of two years of creative blood, sweat and tears for the quartet, Return of Saturn is a bold and exciting coming-of-age saga. An intimate view of the world as seen by a group of musicians and friends who watched their humble worlds turned literally upside-down by the unexpected (though well-deserved) success of No Doubt's third album, Tragic Kingdom. While that youthful recording reflects the concerns and observations of a band at the edge of possibility, Return of Saturn represents that same group looking collectively inward. What they saw and what they created those two years, will surprise and fascinate you. Who am I, and how did I get to this point in my life, when I thought I was going to be something completely different? -- that pretty much sums up the subject of this album, says Gwen.

Return of Saturn was recorded in two Los Angeles studios during 1998 and 1999. Twelve of the album's 13 songs were produced by Glen Ballard, (Alanis Morissette, Aerosmith), whose contribution was a key ingredient in the album's creation. In our band, everyone has such strong opinions that if you put the four of us in the room together you could have some troubles, says bassist Tony Kanal. But if you get somebody as experienced as Glen, not only as a producer but as a songwriter, you can bounce ideas off him and get some really cool objective answers, and it helps level the creative playing field.

One song on the album, New (also heard on the GO soundtrack) was produced by the band with Jerry Harrison (Talking Heads, Live). It was fun to start with a clean slate and create something brand new, says guitarist Tom Dumont, who also wrote much of the album's music. We hadn't really done much writing on the road, so when it came time, we had to come up with the entire record. Every time we wrote a song it was like having a baby. It's such a good feeling to sit down with an acoustic guitar and a tape recorder, and later to have created something really cool.

In light of the international success of Tragic Kingdom (more than 15 million copies sold worldwide, including over 11 million in the U.S.), the four band members were bound to be subject to any number of outside influences and pressures when it came time to make their follow-up.

But as it turned out, the band was able to turn any outside distraction to their ultimate benefit, beginning with pre-production and writing sessions at a rented Hollywood Hills house. I remember being in a very open, optimistic mood, says Tony, getting the house up in the hills, and just feeling like we had time to do it right. There was no deadline to deliver a record, so I remember not feeling pressure. It just felt like a good place to be, creatively.

Drummer Adrian Young agrees: We were just more conscious of the fact that we're following a huge record, and we need good songs, but I don't know what kind of album we wanted, or expected to make. It was very experimental most of the time. In fact, we didn't have any predisposition about it. That's always a good way for us to approach the music. We've always been across the board, stylistically, and I'm glad we didn't lose that part of the band, he says.

Songs on Return of Saturn like Marry Me, Simple Kind of Life and the album's first single Ex Girlfriend show vocalist Gwen Stefani in a reflective and unashamedly romantic mood, traits which she says are often overlooked in her hectic life. I think I am a romantic at heart, but my life in a lot of ways these days doesn't reflect that, she remarks. So I have this inner conflict about it, and this guilt about it. I'm very hopeful that someday those things will happen in my life, because it's all I've ever dreamed of. But right now it seems like my life doesn't have any room for it, and I won't make any room for it because I'm so passionate about what No Doubt is doing right now.

The music on each of No Doubt's three previous albums (1992's No Doubt, 1995's Beacon Street Incident, Tragic Kingdom) runs the stylistic gamut, mixing in as many influences as the band members can think of, and this collection is no different. Tom says the band has few rules when it comes to songwriting. We discovered a way to write on songs like Just a Girl and Spiderwebs and some of the older ones, which we incorporated when we started this album, and that was that there were no preconceived ideas at all. We would sit down in a room with a tape recorder and acoustic guitars and start improvising things. All the songs were written very spontaneously, starting from a blank slate every time.

The truth is, I feel like I've been turned inside-out after writing this album, adds Gwen. It's everything that I have been in the last two years, which have been really hard years for me. I just feet this sense of accomplishment, and this lightness has come over me since the album has been finished. It's so rewarding to be done and feel so proud of it, I can't wait for people to hear it.

DF-2 LP Flattener 115V

Have a question about this product? Please email ouraudio advisor or call 1-877-929-8729 with any questions or concerns regarding your equipment purchase.

This is the new improved version of the Furutech LP flattener that is now approved for FLAT-PROFILE/NO GROOVE-GUARD discs.

Ultimate Performance

Ultimate Refinement

Ultimate Luxury

Every vinyl enthusiast has records in their collection, or come across LPs they'd love to own, but were just too warped for any cartridge/arm to track. The DF-2 the one-stop, one-button solution to your problems! The DF-2 provides controlled-heat perfect flattening for all your warped records, even those with only slight irregularities just enough to unsettle your cartridge and cause mistracking. Warps are bad news no matter how you look at it. If the arm/cartridge remains parallel to the LP's surface as with a flat record, VTA (Vertical Tracking Angle) remains unchanged throughout every rotation. Additionally, as the arm/cartridge tracks a warp on its upside, it places greater pressure on the stylus which changes VTF (Vertical Tracking Force) until the peak of the warp, whereupon the cartridge becomes "unloaded" with too little VTF on the way down. Of course, all this muddles the sound, changing the tonal quality, imaging and soundstage characteristics of the cartridge. A flat record also tracks better with less distortion. An LCD keeps you informed of progress with a tone sounding when done.

IMPORTANT:

The following LPs should not be treated in the DF-2:

1. LPs weighing less than 110g

2. Light LPs that were manufactured between 1973-74 (Oil crisis) weights range from 100g to 115g

Diana (Clear Vinyl) (Out Of Stock)

Limited Pressing On 180 Gram Clear Vinyl

Remastered

A very limited pressing of her biggest solo album ever: Diana. This has the #1 single Upside Down, the anthem I'm Coming Out, and more. Album produced by Niles Rogers. Everything about it is iconic. This is 180g, remastered and on clear vinyl. Very limited

Sound System International (Out Of Stock)

Originally released in a plain jacket, and rubber stamped with only the title and track listing, Sound System International was considered to be totally obscure amongst collectors until Pressure Sounds reissued it in 2009. This original set features ten thrilling King Tubby deconstructions of Dynamites rhythms produced by Clancy Eccles. Anyone interested in Tubby's early mixing style need look no further as he takes on these straight forward reggae songs and turns them upside down to somewhere completely different.

Watermelon Slim Direct-To-Disc (Out Of Stock)

Bill Watermelon Slim Homans is nothing if not a renaissance man. He attended Middlebury College in Vermont on a fencing scholarship but dropped out to enlist in the Army for the Vietnam War. While laid up in a Vietnam hospital bed, he taught himself upside-down, left-handed slide guitar. He worked as a truck driver, a forklift operator, a saw mill hand, a funeral officiator and at times as a small-time criminal. Due to the latter vocation, he fled Boston to lay low in Oklahoma where he farmed watermelons, hence his stage name. Hes earned two undergrad degrees along with a master's. He painted art and briefly joined Mensa. Oh, and he likes to read Shakespeare and bowls a steady 240.

No surprise then that he draws from a plenty diverse range of influences to form his unique brand of raw and honest blues. Its music as interesting as the man.

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